Here are two initiatives working to decolonize people's bodies and the local land. These programs are 100% focused on serving BIPOC folks.
(Separate from my grant program/business)
Global Majority Healing Oasis - Help fund free BIPOC support and healing spaces
BIPOC Urban Farm and Wholeness Center in Winooski
(Separate from my grant program/business)
Global Majority Healing Oasis - Help fund free BIPOC support and healing spaces
BIPOC Urban Farm and Wholeness Center in Winooski
Bodywork GRANTS for Bipoc & TRANS FOLK
I am offering partial and full scholarships for bodywork to anyone who identifies as BIPOC and/or Trans. Fill out the form below to request your session or get on my waiting list.
What is a bodywork grant with Gaby?
A bodywork grant is a scholarship that grants access to healing and therapeutic bodywork to people who identify as BIPOC and/or trans free of charge or at a discounted rate. Modalities I offer are massage therapy, energy balancing, sound therapy, and yoga.
Why does it exist?
Oppression and racial injustice can cause suffering and trauma to the people who experience it. When a person is exposed to injustice regularly, their quality of life and health may be impacted and sometimes manifests through the body and nervous system function. Oppression and injustice can cause dis-regulation of the nervous system and is why I believe that nervous system healing is social justice work. Bodywork offers an environment where deeper rest and relaxation are possible, offering space for relief and a reset, and is guided by the needs of the client. By working with a trusted practitioner, clients can create space for themselves to begin, or deepen, their healing journey through receiving massage therapy, energy work (Reiki or Shiatsu), sound therapy, or yoga sessions.
Everyone deserves to feel safe and at home in their bodies, being exactly who they are and just as they are. These modalities have transformed and strengthened my relationship to both myself and my body, allowing space for healing and trauma resilience, and have resulted in a deeper sense of self-worth, self-value, and self-love. My hope and prayer for this grant program, is for local Vermont BIPOC and Trans folk, to have access to the modalities I offer at no, or little cost, to them and that they benefit from experiencing various therapeutic modalities in ways that enrich, transform, and inspire their lives.
How is the program funded?
When I began my career as a massage therapist, I did not accept gratuity and encouraged clients to put any extra funds towards future sessions, as a way to invest in themselves and their health and well-being. I still recommend this to clients with financial constraints.
While there is no expectation from clients to give gratuity, some offer it and I started to accept it as a way to fund partial and full bodywork grants and low-income sliding scale clients. Some grant recipients chose to pay it forward to keep the program going - This is welcome and not required.
How can I help? White-bodied allies that would like to fund access to bodywork for BIPOC or Trans folk, you can donate sessions from your package, offer gratuity, or donate through Venmo @gabygyoga or PayPal Me (Write "Bodywork Grant"). BIPOC and Trans folk have asked how they can help to support this program. I don't have an answer for you yet, though I have a bigger vision that relates to access and healthcare justice... In the meantime you are welcome to pay it forward for a fellow grant recipient.... OR consider donating to the BIPOC led organizations mentioned above. Their missions are clear, powerful, empowering, and are much needed in the Vermont community!
Thank you for stopping by and expanding your understanding of how bodywork and massage therapy can be a radical offering that supports collective healing and liberation of trauma and oppression on an individual level. Bodywork is more than a luxurious spa experience - it is part of cultivating health, healing, and well-being for one's self, which effects the whole of which we are a part. I choose to offer this service because of my life experience and intersectional identity. More to come about that one day..
A bodywork grant is a scholarship that grants access to healing and therapeutic bodywork to people who identify as BIPOC and/or trans free of charge or at a discounted rate. Modalities I offer are massage therapy, energy balancing, sound therapy, and yoga.
Why does it exist?
Oppression and racial injustice can cause suffering and trauma to the people who experience it. When a person is exposed to injustice regularly, their quality of life and health may be impacted and sometimes manifests through the body and nervous system function. Oppression and injustice can cause dis-regulation of the nervous system and is why I believe that nervous system healing is social justice work. Bodywork offers an environment where deeper rest and relaxation are possible, offering space for relief and a reset, and is guided by the needs of the client. By working with a trusted practitioner, clients can create space for themselves to begin, or deepen, their healing journey through receiving massage therapy, energy work (Reiki or Shiatsu), sound therapy, or yoga sessions.
Everyone deserves to feel safe and at home in their bodies, being exactly who they are and just as they are. These modalities have transformed and strengthened my relationship to both myself and my body, allowing space for healing and trauma resilience, and have resulted in a deeper sense of self-worth, self-value, and self-love. My hope and prayer for this grant program, is for local Vermont BIPOC and Trans folk, to have access to the modalities I offer at no, or little cost, to them and that they benefit from experiencing various therapeutic modalities in ways that enrich, transform, and inspire their lives.
How is the program funded?
When I began my career as a massage therapist, I did not accept gratuity and encouraged clients to put any extra funds towards future sessions, as a way to invest in themselves and their health and well-being. I still recommend this to clients with financial constraints.
While there is no expectation from clients to give gratuity, some offer it and I started to accept it as a way to fund partial and full bodywork grants and low-income sliding scale clients. Some grant recipients chose to pay it forward to keep the program going - This is welcome and not required.
How can I help? White-bodied allies that would like to fund access to bodywork for BIPOC or Trans folk, you can donate sessions from your package, offer gratuity, or donate through Venmo @gabygyoga or PayPal Me (Write "Bodywork Grant"). BIPOC and Trans folk have asked how they can help to support this program. I don't have an answer for you yet, though I have a bigger vision that relates to access and healthcare justice... In the meantime you are welcome to pay it forward for a fellow grant recipient.... OR consider donating to the BIPOC led organizations mentioned above. Their missions are clear, powerful, empowering, and are much needed in the Vermont community!
Thank you for stopping by and expanding your understanding of how bodywork and massage therapy can be a radical offering that supports collective healing and liberation of trauma and oppression on an individual level. Bodywork is more than a luxurious spa experience - it is part of cultivating health, healing, and well-being for one's self, which effects the whole of which we are a part. I choose to offer this service because of my life experience and intersectional identity. More to come about that one day..